Dear Parent / Carer, Welcome to the Easter Newsletter where I wish to take the opportunity to celebrate both staff and pupil achievement. Additionally, there is information which you need to be aware of. Please check the school website for all updates. This is now particularly important for parents of Year 11 students as the summer timetable for examinations is now available. All Year 11s will be given an individual timetable around the Easter break and I would urge you to put this in a prominent place and encourage your child to double-check it! This year, following the Year 11 Mocks (Monday 6th February Friday 17th February), we have introduced a new, special assembly. Its purpose is to give an early indication, using the same format as the summer release of results, of what their grades may actually be. Although, some elements such as controlled assessments may not be factored in, students should now take every opportunity to thoroughly revise and attend all offered intervention sessions. You will wish to discuss these results with your child and contact teachers, if necessary, to determine how they can be further improved. After a 35 year career in teaching, 18 years of which have spent at Prestwich Arts College, I have made the difficult decision to retire at the end of this academic year. Governors have been very active in ensuring that there is a continuity of Leadership, with the appointment of Miss Rachel Evans on the 17th March, who will be the new Headteacher from September 2017. Our Senior leadership will further be strengthened, with the appointment of another Assistant Headteacher, hopefully before the close of this academic year. I will wait until the summer newsletter to express my sentiments and thanks about standing down, after such a long period as Deputy Headteacher and as Headteacher. In the interim, I remain absolutely committed to ensuring that as a school, we take every opportunity to self-improve our service to our young people. All parents and students now have access to our Learning Gateway. This gives you direct access to timetables, homework details, student details and a whole host of other useful bits of information. We will also be using this to publish reports and other details during the year, so don't forget to log in and check. This half term we published reports for Years 7, 8 and 11, levels for Years 7, 8 and 9, and estimated grades for Years 10 and 11. If you have any problems gaining access or need a password, please contact us via email office@prestwich.bury.sch.uk. I would ask parents to help the school by ensuring that you check the number of lates your child is accruing,as we are increasingly having to challenge poor punctuality.
In my previous newsletter, I alerted parents of Year 11 students that there are some changes to the way results for English, English Literature and maths will be reported nationally this summer. This information is still available on the school website. The other major change is how Prestwich has responded to Life after Levels. Most parents will be familiar with national curriculum levels, which were removed at the end of 2015. Confusingly, every school now is required to develop its own assessment system. It is important, therefore, that parents and pupils have a system which is clear; helps pupils to understand where they are in relation to their Progress Pathway and with appropriate teacher feedback, know what they have to do to improve. We will, therefore be issuing a parent guide to the new assessment system at Prestwich as well as taking students through the changes in advance of their return in September. The booklet will be available on the website from just after the Easter break. Congratulations to Ms Kelly who was successful in her bid for lottery funding to the amount of 10,000. This will go a long way to improving the equipment available to our pupils, especially for after school use. Very best wishes Mr. C. C. Hornby Headteacher United Youth Parliament The United Kingdom Youth Parliament elections took place in Bury at the beginning of February. Bury s secondary schools, colleges and Connexions Service made it possible for 7,403 young people to vote, which is approximately 40% of the overall age appropriate population in Bury. This is 2% higher than the turnout in Bury s 2016 local council election! Three representatives, from the Prestwich area of schools were voted in and we are delighted and very proud to say that Bethanie Mortenson (Year 11) was elected as one of two deputies, with 912 votes. Well done Bethanie!
Home Connect, for the Accelerated Reader programme in KS3, was launched in March. Renaissance Home Connect improves school-to-home connection by allowing parents and carers to log into the Accelerated Reader website and view their child s progress towards their reading targets. Through Accelerated Reader, your child has access to a wide range of books which suit all tastes. Access to online results promotes discussion between parents and children, which motivates them and can make reading practice even more effective. To log onto Home Connect you need to access the AR website, please type the following address into your web browser https://ukhosted48.renlearn.co.uk/2190984/homeconnect and log on with your child s user name and password to view their progress. Accelerated Reader Autumn Term 2016 Congratulations to Malakai Vuni (pictured right)who won the Accelerated Reader 100% board competition in January. He successfully completed several online quizzes to achieve entry onto the 100% board and win a copy of 'Would the real Stanley Carrot please stand up' by Rob Stevens. Well done, Malakai! World Book Day 2017 Teachers and pupils got involved with World Book day on the 2nd March 2017: English teachers taught creative writing lessons to KS3 pupils, who wrote a story called 'The Journey;' form tutors got their forms involved with the WBD quiz, and the whole school ran 'Wear a Word for World Book day' competition. John Noonan (pictured left), in year 7, won the overall prize of 2 books and a Hunger Games bookmark. Congratulations, John!
Gateway Suite The Gateway Suite would like to invite you to our Literacy Coffee Morning on Wednesday, 28th June 2017 between 9.30am 11am. During the morning you will have the opportunity to learn about how your child can access books and how you can track their progress via the Home Connect facility. Since last September, the school library has invested in new books, tables, literacy based games and author posters. It is a vibrant environment that students use during lesson and social time, where they engage in learning and create friendship groups. It is also a popular area for completing homework. Basketball Both the year 8 and the year 9 teams have enjoyed success in basketball this term. The year 9 team reached the semi finals of the Bury Schools tournament, whilst the year 8 team were unbeaten in an invitational event, finishing in third place overall on baskets scored.
Daytona 2017 The Design and Technology department organised a trip to Daytona Karting on Thursday, 2nd February 2017, for those pupils currently studying or thinking about opting for Resistant Materials (Technical Award or GCSE). The day started with everyone dressing up in their racing suits. We then took a full behind-the-scenes of the workshop. Karts were turned over and pulled apart and we even got to see the results of an exploded engine. The talk from an engineer on the technology of the karts, was met with lots of questions before we went onto the pre-race safety briefing (including all necessary safety equipment). In groups of ten, everyone drove and raced the karts against each other. Competition was fierce on the track with Mr Robins claiming he had been sabotaged and Mr Dutton claiming victory. At the presentation ceremony Abdullah took first place.
Big Bang On Thursday 16th of March 2017, The Design Technology department took 48 students to The Big Bang at Birmingham NEC. This trip was aimed at those pupils currently studying or thinking about opting for Materials Technology Technical Award or Design Technology Resistant Materials GCSE. During the day pupils had the opportunity to look at the real life applications of technology and engineering plus explore exciting potential careers paths. The show offered a huge range of interactive stands, shows and workshops. Our budding engineers had the chance to talk to potential employers. There were hands on workshops where pupils could make things to take home and much more. Youssef and Mobeen came back with their very own Rolls Royce baseball caps!
EXAMS APPROACH The time is here when Year 11 need to start focussing on revision for their summer exams. You will find a lot of very useful guidance on the Exams page of the school web site, including useful revision guidance and exam timetables. We will soon be publishing details of extra revision sessions to help Year 11 prepare for their exams. And not to forget the rest of the school... from the beginning of May, you will also find details of all the exams scheduled for all other year groups. D a t e s f o r y o u r D i a r y School closes - Friday, 31st March 2017 at 2.15pm School re-opens - Wednesday, 19th April 2017 School closes - Monday, 1st May 2017 only (Bank Holiday) School re-opens - Tuesday, 2nd May 2017 Year 7, 8, 9 & 10 exams - Monday, 15th May to Friday, 26th May 2017 GCSE Exams - Monday, 15th May to Tuesday, 22nd June 2017 School closes (Staff Training/Polling Day) - Thursday, 4th May 2017 only School re-opens on the morning of Friday, 5th May 2017 School closes - Friday, 26th May 2017 School re-opens - Monday, 5th June 2017 Prestwich Carnival - Sunday, 18th June 2017 School closes for Summer Holidays - Friday, 21th July 2017 at 2.15pm Midday Supervisor Vacancy The school currently has a vacancy for a Midday Supervisor to work Monday to Friday, between 1pm and 2.30pm, during term time. The current annual salary is 2514. Further details and job description can be obtained from the Business and Resource Office at school or by telephone to 0161 772 4408. Being ready for Learning Now that Easter is almost upon us, please take the opportunity to restock your child s pencil case with basic equipment. The school also runs a Resource Shop in the Finance Office everyday before school, during break, lunch and after school until 4pm, where pupils can buy a range of stationery. Parents of Year 11 students in particular, it is important that pupils are ready for examinations are have all necessary equipment for the forthcoming exam. Please note that revision guides for most subjects are available at cost from the Gateway Suite. Uniform Please take the opportunity over Easter, to ensure your child has the correct uniform. It is worth re-visiting the uniform checklist in the Pupil organiser before buying item e.g. shoes. Also please remember that hoodies are not suitable and are not allowed, likewise piercings are not permitted. Primary Links Transition information is available on the school Web Site - www.prestwich.bury.sch.uk Year 5 Taster Days - Tuesday, 4th July, Thursday, 6th July and Monday, 10th July 2017 - Primary Schools will pass on further details. Year 6 Induction Day - Wednesday, 28th June 2017 Year 6 Transition / New Intake Evening - Tuesday, 11th July 2017 Cars on Heys Road - Ensuring Children s Safety Can we once again, please ask that you use extreme caution when dropping off or collecting children from outside the school. We are very concerned that some parents just stop in the middle of the road and let their children cross, regardless of any other vehicles which may be on the road. We have had accidents caused by cars being stationary in restricted areas and we have also nearly had accidents caused by parents attempting to turn their car around in the middle of the road! Can we strongly request that you do not drop your child off directly outside school and instead make arrangements to drop / collect them at a distance from the school, letting them walk some of the way instead. We also receive a number of calls from local residents about vehicles blocking their driveways. Please can we respectfully ask you to consider the consequences of your driving / parking when outside of this school, our students safety must come first. Thank you.